Method and apparatus for forming a woven textile by high speed projection of the weft threads



April 28, 1964 3,130,755

R G. RUSSELL METHOD AND APPARATUS EOR FORMING A WOVEN TEXTILE BY HIGH SPEED PROJECTION OF THE WEFT THREADS Original Filed Oct. 12 1955 INVENTORS y ROBERT G.- RUSSELL ATTORNE Y5 United States Patent METHGD AND APPARATUS FGR F01. I G A WOVEN TEXTILE BY HIGH SPEED PROJECTION 9F THE WEFT THREADS Robert G. Russell, Granvilie, Ohio, assignor to Owens- Corning Fiherglas Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, at corporation of Delaware Griginal application Oct. 12, 1955, Ser. No. 540,064, new Patent No. 3,039,169, dated June 19, 1962. Divided and this application July 31, 1961, Ser. No. 128,255

4 Claims. (Cl. 139-18} This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the weaving of a textile wherein the warp threads of the textile are handled in a more or less conventional manner and the weft threads are projected from a continuous strand into the shed of a loom-like apparatus so as to eliminate the necessity for a shuttle and so as to expedite the operation of the weaving mechanism or loom.

This application is a division of co-pending application Serial No. 540,064 which was filed October 12, 1955, by Frickert, Russell and Smock as a joint application, now Patent No. 3,039,169 directed to generic concepts disclosed and claimed therein, and which joint application included in its disclosure the subject matter specifically covered by the instant application.

It has previously been suggested that the weft or pick threads of a textile could be fed back and forth across the shed of a loom by a pneumatically projected shuttle which is driven back and forth on successive openings of the shed as a projectal, trailing the pick behind it to lay the pick in the shed.

It is the principal object of the instant invention to provide a loom-like apparatus and a method in which the pick or weft thread is a continuous strand or thread and is constantly fed from one side of the shed, being projected lineally at high speed across the shed and automatically doubled back upon itself to give the textile a double pick, the opening and closing of the shed functioning to terminate the loops forming the weft threads and to cause the formation of a subsequent loop.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of a method and apparatus embodying the invention will be better understood by reference to the following specification and to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation and in simplified form of a loom illustrating how loops of strand formed and deposited according to the invention, are projected into the shed of the loom to form the weft or pick of a woven fabric;

FIG. 2 is an end 'view in elevation, also in a simplified form, of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

This invention relates to the formation and deposition of loops from a continuous strand which is projected at high speed to form the weft threads of a woven, clothlike textile structure and is contrasted to the subject matter of our parent application which was directed to the high speed formation and deposition of loops from a continuous strand for the formation of clothlike mats or oriented patterns of strand, but in which there was no woven pattern.

A continuous strand 10 may be formed as needed by the grouping together of a plurality of individual fibers 11 which are attenuated by a pair of pulling wheels 13 from molten streams flowing through minute orifices in the bottom of a melter or glass supply tank 12. The strand 10 may also be fed from a source, such as a reel or package, if formation at the time and place of textile weaving is not practicable or desirable. In either case, the strand 10 is projected horizontally by the pulling Wheels 13 which are located laterally adjacent and with their bite at a level vertically just above the level of the nip, between a pair of feeding rollers 14 constituting a portion of a loom fragmentarily and generally indicated at 15.

The loom 15 has the usual pair of harnesses 16 and 17 which are provided with suitable heddles 18 and 19, respectively, for guiding front and back warp threads 20 and 21. The Warp threads 2% and 21 may be pulled from spools or packages 22 of continuous strand, thread or cord.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the harnesses 16 and 17 are shown as having only four and three heddles 18 and 19, respectively, for purposes of simplification of the drawings. It will be appreciated, of course, that the number of warp threads in the fabric to be woven and correspondingly the number of heddles on the harnesses 16 and 17 will depend entirely upon the width and count of the fabric to be woven.

Because of the spacing of the pulling wheels 13 the continuous strand 10 is projected into the shed of the loom 15 at a position just above the nip of the feeding rollers 14. A loop 23 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as extending approximately half Way across the shed of the loom 15.

The mechanism for opening and closing the shed of the loom 15, i.e., for swinging the harnesses 16 and 17 back and forth, is so driven that the warp threads 20 and 21 cross the line of projection of the continuous strand 10 each time that a loop being formed, such as the loop 23, extends all the way across the shed. The closest warp thread, indicated specifically in FIG. 1 by the reference number 24, is thus swung back and forth across the lineal path of projection of the continuous strand 10 each time the shed closes and reopens with the Warp threads 20 and 21 at opposite sides. Moving the warp thread 24 across the path of the continuously projected lineal strand 10 results in folding that strand 10 around the warp thread 24 as can be seen at the positions indicated by the reference number 25 in FIG. 1.

The warp threads 20 and 21 as a group not only constitute a part of the finished woven mass of strand but they also serve the function of receiving the projected loops of continuous strand 10. The lineal speed of the warp threads 20 and 21 may be varied at will to vary the spacing between the projected weft threads, i.e., the loops of the continuous strand 10. This provides for variation in the count of the fabric and thus variation in the mass of glass fibers contained with a certain lineal length of the woven textile in order to control the weight of the finished product or the proportion for example, of glass to resin if the product is to be used as a reinforcing mat in a resinous combination. Similarly, the width of the entire shed of the loom, i.e., the overall spacing between the outermost ones of the warp threads 20 and 21, their lineal speed of progression and the frequency of operation of the shed opening mechanism are the factors by which the lineal speed of projection of the continuous strand 10 is determined. These various speeds and spacial relationships are controlled to insure the uniform spacing and placement of the weft threads formed from the continuous strand 14).

Alternate loops indicated in FIG. 1 by the reference numbers 26 and 27 lie on opposite sides of the sets of warp threads 29 and 21. The loops 26 and 27 constitute weft threads in a woven finished fabric of length and width determined by the length of time which the loom is operated and, of course, by the Width of its shed.

Longitudinal spacing of the weft threads (loops 26 and 27) along the fabric thus produced is determined by the relationship of the speeds of the mechanism which opens and closes the shed of the loom 15 and the lineal speed of projection of the continuous strand 1% with the feeding speed of the loom feeding rollers 14 and a pair of fabric feeding rollers 28 (FIG. 2). The speeds of the continuous strand 10 and the opening and closing of the shed must remain synchronized so that each individual loop is formed of a size appropriate to extend across the fabric. If the feeding speeds of the rollers 14 and 28 are increased the loops 26 and 2.7 are spaced farther from each other.

By arranging the loom so that the shed extends vertically and the warp threads 26 and 21 move downwardly, the shed opens upwardly and the continuously projected strand It? is led into the nip between the rollers 34 by the force of gravity. While the loom might also be operated in a more nearly conventional position, i.e., with the fabric moving horizontally and the weft threads or projected loops 2d and 27 being thrown horizontally across the shed, the position shown in the drawing eliminates the necessity for employing any mechanisms to thrust the weft threads tightly into the bite between the rollers 14 and provides much more than enough vertical space through which the loops can be projected without danger of entangling contact between a forming loop and the warp threads 20 and 21.

If desired, the woven fabric produced by the apparatus and method of the invention may be tight or loose depending upon the timing just discussed. Furthermore, if it is desired to give the textile greater integrity, the weft and warp threads may readily be bonded to each other by spraying or otherwise depositing a suitable adhesive onto the material to form bonds at the points of intersection.

Although it has been assumed, in discussing the apparatus and method of the invention, that all of the strands forming the warp threads 2% and 21 as well as the continuous strand 1% are made from the same material, for example, glass fiber strands, it will be appreciated that the continuous strand 10 fed by the pulling Wheel 13 might be made from one type of material, say glass fibers, while the warp threads 2h and 21 might be both made from a different material or from two different materials such as natural or synthetic fibrous materials having characteristics desirable for the ultimate use of the textile product.

In addition to the fabrication of mats or cloth-like masses for resin reinforcement, the practice of the in stant invention also permits the rapid fabrication of scrimtype fabrics, decorative fabrics where the pattern of the strands may provide the decoration or where some of the strands may be of one material or the strands may be of different colors, and various types of tapes such as electrical insulation tapes. For example, the high speed loom of FIGS. 1 and 2 may be used to produce a narrow web of glass fibers for reinforcing binding or packaging tapes at extremely high speed.

One of the primary advantages of the instant invention, both from an apparatus and method standpoint, is the fact that the woven textile product may be automatically formed at an extremely high speed con comitantly with the original production of the strand itself. By locating an apparatus according to the inven tion immediately beneath the position in which the con tinuous strand 10 is initially formed, all of the glass fiber strands produced from this position can be directly converted into a finished textile-like mat of any desired den- 4. sity without the usual intervening steps of winding, packaging and unwinding. The practice of the invention thus eliminates a number of expensive and time consuming steps resulting in a finished textile product highly suitable for plastics reinforcements as well as for other uses and at a much lower cost.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A method for weaving a fabric having a double pick, said method comprising feeding warp threads longitudinally between the coacting surfaces of a pair of rollers that extend transversely across said Warp threads, guiding said warp threads in two harness sets, with alternate warp threads guided by each of said harnesses, linearly projecting a continuous strand along a path extending laterally into the space between said harness sets of warp threads ata speed which imparts sufficient kinetic energy to said continuous strand to cause such continuous strand to throw a loop across said warp threads, and repeatedly crossing said warp threads sets on the input side of said rollers after each loop is thrown across said warp threads and which occurs at a frequency determined by the ratio of the linear speed of said continuous strand to the overall width of said harness sets.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the warp threads are moved downwardly and the continuous strand is projected horizontally from one side of the shed formed by said warp threads.

3. In a loom having a pair of harnesses and warp thread heddles for feeding and spacing warp threads to form'a laterally open shed, the improvement comprising, a pair of feeding rollers extending across and in contact with opposite sides of said warp threads and located at and forming the apex of said shed, means for projecting a continuous strand with sufiicient kinetic energy along a linear path leading into the shed of said loom at a point near and at least generally parallel to the apex thereof to throw a loop of said continuous strand across said shed, said means being located at one side of said shed, mechanism for opening and closing said shed at intervals related to the ratio of the lineal speed of said strand and the width of said shed whereby the edge one of said warp threads crosses the path of said continuous strand during each shed closure, and means for actuating said feeding rollers for feeding said warp threads.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3 in which the means for feeding the continuous strand consists of a pair of high speed, coacting strand feeding rollers mounted on parallel axes and with their peripheries engaging opposite sides of the strand for projecting the strand continuously along a path leading into the shed of the loom and parallel to the axes of the warp thread feeding rollers.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 773,808 Pentlarge Nov. 1, 1904 1,364,138 Parker Jan. 4, 1921 1,594,600 Carlson Aug. 3, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 159,324 Australia Oct. 14, 1954 372,656 Germany Dec. 3, 1920 

1. A METHOD FOR WEAVING A FABRIC HAVING A DOUBLE PICK, SAID METHOD COMPRISING FEEDING WARP THREADS LONGITUDINALLY BETWEEN THE COASTING SURFACES OF A PAIR OF ROLLERS THAT EXTEND TRANSVERSELY ACROSS SAID WRAP THREADS, GUIDING SAID WARP THREADS IN TWO HARNESS SETS, WITH ALTERNATE WARP THREADS GUIDED BY EACH OF SAID HARNESSES, LINEARLY PROJECTING A CONTINUOUS STRAND ALONG A PATH EXTENDING LATERALLY INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID HARNESS SETS OF WARP THREADS AT A SPEED WHICH IMPARTS SUFFICIENT KINETIC ENERGY TO SAID CONTINUOUS STRAND TO CAUSE SUCH CONTINUOUS STRAND TO THROW A LOOP ACROSS SAID WARP THREADS, AND REPEATEDLY CROSSING SAID WARP THREADS SETS ON THE INPUT SIDE OF SAID ROLLERS AFTER EACH LOOP IS THROWN ACROSS SAID WARP THREADS AND WHICH OCCURS AT A FREQUENCY DETERMINED BY THE RATIO OF THE LINEAR SPEED OF SAID CONTINUOUS STRAND TO THE OVERALL WIDTH OF SAID HARNESS SETS. 